Friday, January 07, 2005

O, Magnolia

The ultimate symbol of Dixieland, the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is an evergreen I'm oddly proud to have an abundance of on our property. The front yard is almost all magnolia. There's already a house museum called Magnolia Grove in the next town over, or I might be tempted to give the house that name.

From what I've read, they'll bloom in late spring to summer. We haven't seen them in bloom yet, but I'm anticipating quite a show.

The magnolia is the official tree/flower of Mississippi, where I lived for six years. It's even on the license plates and all the "Welcome to Mississippi" signs.

In Alabama, we are less bold about our state flower, the also-evergreen camellia. Our state flower was the goldenrod until 1959, when it was changed to the camellia. I can't argue with that choice; the camellia is one of my all-time favorite plants. It beats roses any day and even - gasp - magnolias.

I'm not overly interested in gardening and know even less about it than I do about fine wines and the proper usage techniques for Clorox bleach. All I know is I want some camellias. Also, some Confederate roses. Then I'll have a trifecta of Southern plants.

2 Comments:

When I was a child, my neighbor had a huge magnolia. I used to beg to cut off flowers and take them home to float in a bowl of hot water. The smell was incredible! You should give it a try this spring.